Tag Archives: painting crafts

We love to read, we love studying, and there’s just that TIIIINY little piece of us that’s just slightly judgmental…

😉

And when you’re feeling your inner Hermione come out, what better way to show her off than with this cute library tote bag?

Featuring a little book and owl charm, as well as a striped pattern in Hermione’s house colors, this tote bag is great for running off to potions class, a study session at the library, or just storing your copy of The Monster Book of Monsters because every smart girl knows not to carry that one around in the open…

I’ve included instructions on how to make this tote, but if you love it and just have to have this one, it’ll be for sale soon in my Etsy store, so stay tuned!

Hermione’s Library Tote Bag

Materials:

Canvas Tote

Maroon Fabric Paint

Gold Fabric Paint

Black Fabric Marker

Ruler

Pencil

Paintbrush

Iron-on Letters

Red Ribbon

Book and Owl Charm, if desired

Instructions:

Follow the instructions for caring for your canvas tote (this might involve a quick pre-wash before you begin).

Using a ruler, mark 1 in. marks along both side straps of bag. Lightly draw pencil lines to divide side straps into 11 squares. Repeat on both sides of tote.

Starting with gold paint, fill in every other square on tote. I did about 2 coats of gold paint. Let dry and repeat on other side. Repeat with maroon paint.

There’s no avoiding it…there’s no denying it. But, there might be something you can do to help spread some cheer throughout the year!

Whether you want to brighten up your garden, your neighborhood, or your community, these painted rocks are sure to bring just a little joy into someone’s life. Scatter them around your home, in your garden, or spread them around your local park or forest preserve. A little joke can go a long way, and these painted rocks might just be the motivation your friend or neighbor needs to keep on truckin’!

Like this:

Every true Harry Potter fan knows about the four Marauders. A group of Gryffindor friends made up of Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black, and James Potter, the four attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the 1970s and had a serious knack for rule-breaking…

The truest of friends during their time at Hogwarts, Pettigrew, Black, and Potter all became unregistered Animagi (a wizard who can turn into an animal) in order to protect their friend, Lupin, who was a werewolf. Pettigrew’s Animagus was a rat, making him small enough to slip under the Whomping Willow so the group could go to the Shrieking Shack, where Lupin would stay during his time as a werewolf. Black – a dog – and Potter – a stag – were both big enough as animals to help control Remus during his monthly transformations.

In order to protect their identity, the four Marauders gave each other names that nodded to their animal counterparts. Throughout the Harry Potter series, these four are known as Moony (Lupin), Wormtail (Pettigrew), Padfoot (Black) and Prongs (Potter).

Towards the end of their education, Remus, Peter, Sirius, and James created the Marauder’s Map, a small, bewitched roll of parchment that displayed the castle grounds and inhabitants of Hogwarts – including all staff, ghosts, and students – in great detail. It showed where everyone was in the castle so the boys could continue their mischievous ways without getting caught, as well as help Lupin escape the castle when the full moon rose and he would begin his transformation.

At an unspecified point in time, the map was discovered and confiscated by Hogwarts caretaker, Argus Filch…and remained in his custody until Fred and George Weasley stole the map in their first year and later passed it on to James’s son, Harry, in 1993.

Much of the history of the Four Marauders is introduced in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and continues to come up now and again throughout the remainder of the story.

Designed to pay homage to the four Marauder’s, these stacking bowls each feature the name of one of the Marauder’s, as well as the footprint of their animal counterparts on the back.

When I first saw these mini canvases at my local craft store, I just had to buy them. I mean, they’re just so tiny and adorable!

One package contains 8 little canvases, and each canvas measures 2 in. x 2 in. I bought about 4 packs and started brainstorming how to use these.

Now, I have little to no painting experience. Like, basically none. I took one painting class in high school and the rest of my painting expertise came from watching YouTube videos…so I was a bit lost when it came to how to use these mini canvases.

So, it was off to the Internet! I browsed Pinterest looking for ideas and finally found an artist who created minimalist art on these little mini canvases…and then my brain exploded with ideas…

I could do minimalist art! That was right up my alley! So I started thinking of ideas, finally settling on a few collections (Shakespeare plays, Harry Potter of course, and Dr. Seuss to name a few). I decided to start with Shakespeare, as that would test my abilities and dedication to this project.

So this was surprisingly really fun and a true test to how well I remembered these plays! I picked 12 of my favorites and got to work.

Here’s my Hamlet one:

King Lear:

Romeo and Juliet (I like how the caskets kind of make a heart!):

Macbeth:

Henry IV:

Aren’t they cute?

So after finishing all my canvases, I decided to mount them on a larger canvas so I could display them all together. I used a black 8 in. x 10 in. canvas and mounted the mini canvases using Scrapbook Adhesives Mounting Squares.

These were strong enough to hold by themselves, but if they don’t stick that well, you can use hot glue to secure the mounts.

And here they are, all mounted!

Now, you can just leave them like this and make it a guessing game deciding which one is which, but I decided to add the name of the play under each canvas.

To add the names, I just used a very thin layer of Mod Podge to adhere the paper to the canvas. The Mod Podge dries clear and is barely visible once it dries.

This project was so fun and I had a blast playing around with different colors and painting techniques…and word to the wise, having Bob Ross on in the background certainly doesn’t hurt…

After I finished the Shakespeare Collection, I started working on the Dr. Seuss ones and should have some pics of those soon!

These adorable mini canvases would also make cute magnets or ornaments…there really are endless possibilities for these! You can find them in packages of 6 or 8 at your local craft store and come in both black and white canvas fabric.

Do you have any other ideas for mini canvas collections? Let me know in the comments below!

Celebrate creativity every Wednesday with a “Creativi-bee” post, where I share easy craft tutorials, project ideas, and craft collections.

Like this:

From craft fairs to Etsy shops, everyone is loving on the Sharpie Mugs. Often sporting quotes from some of our favorite TV shows, movies, and books, Sharpie Mugs are a fun and easy project for anyone to do (and they make great gifts for pretty much every occasion)!

But first, a lesson. Let’s talk tools. The two things to keep in mind when creating your Sharpie Mugs are A) quality of your mug and B) types of markers you use. These two things will insure you have great results every time!

First off, the mug. For this project, the cheaper the mug, the better! You don’t want a mug that’s glazed beyond belief, as it will be hard for the markers to set on this surface. Shop the dollar store for cheaper mugs that don’t have layers of protective coating on them. You can always add coating yourself once your design is set.

Second, the markers. Though these are called Sharpie Mugs, not all Sharpies work here. The regular Sharpies will not last and will easily rub off your mug with a sponge or a run through the dishwasher. What you want are OIL-BASED Sharpies…these are like paint markers that will set and ensure long-lasting results. You can find oil-based Sharpies at almost any craft store.

Finally, I also suggest hand-washing these only for best results. Supposedly these mugs will survive washes in the dishwasher, but they’re sure to last longer if you take the time to just carefully wash them by hand.

So for my first Sharpie Mug project, I decided on this quote from Peter Pan. I really like how it turned out and can’t wait to create more mugs to add to my already large mug collection!

Easy DIY Sharpie Mug

Instructions:The graphite paper step is optional, but I love using it because I’m not artistically gifted when it comes to hand-lettering…so the graphite is an easy way to transfer your design onto the ceramic mug without having to sweat the details!

Tape the graphite paper to your cup following the instructions on the package (I carefully ripped my graphite paper to a more workable size).

Tape your quote over the graphite paper.

Using the ballpoint pen, trace over your pattern.

Remove both sheets of paper from the mug. Your outlined quote will appear on the mug. This is washable and will come off easily if you accidentally mess something up.

Once your design is how you want it, simply color over it with the markers.

After I colored in my quote, I wanted to add a few more details, so I threw in some flower sprays, just for fun!

Once your design is done, let your mug dry a good long while…at least 2 hours, if not overnight.

When it comes time to bake your mug, there are several schools of thought. Here’s my way: Place your mug in a cold oven (I put mine on a baking sheet for stability). Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Let the mug sit in the oven for 30 minutes, starting from the time you put it in the cold oven. After 30 minutes, turn the oven off and leave the mug in there until the oven has cooled completely. This process will help prevent cracking, since the ceramic slowly gets used to the changing temperatures.

Once your mug is cooled, you’re all done! If you really want to set your design, you can repeat the entire baking process, but keep in mind the coloring of your design may change with further baking time.

If you still have graphite paper trace marks on your mug, you can remove them with an ear swab or cotton ball dipped in warm water.

Celebrate creativity every Wednesday with a “Creativi-bee” post, where I share easy craft tutorials, project ideas, and craft collections.

Like this:

Anyone who knows me knows this…I LOVE coffee mugs. LOVE THEM. I have WAY too many and I’m the only one in my house who actually drinks coffee!! But each one means something to me and every time one of them breaks, it’s a little painful to throw it away.

I also love making and decorating my own mugs and giving them out as gifts. Crafted mugs make great hostess gifts and stocking stuffers and they’re really fun and easy to make, no matter what your craft level!

Now there are lots of ways to decorate a white mug…paint, Sharpie markers, but I have found that the easiest way for me is to just use stickers…yup, good ol’ fashioned stickers. No need to worry about my shaky hand writing script…no need to worry about my inability to write in a straight line…and if something is misspelled, I can just take the sticker off and try again (as long as I catch it before it’s sealed!).

For this project, all you really need are stickers, a mug, spray paint, and adhesive (I used spray adhesive but Mod Podge would also work). And apparently liquid inspiration doesn’t help, either!

For this project, I used the stickers to outline the message, then spray painted over it and removed the stickers so the message comes through in white. Then I sealed it with spray adhesive sealer!

For this mug, I also tapped off the inside of the mug just to keep it white on the inside…as I’m not quite comfortable using glue and paint where my DRANK goes…but to each his own!

This mug should also be hand washed for long-lasting results.

Celebrate creativity every Wednesday with a “Creativi-bee” post, where I share easy craft tutorials, project ideas, and craft collections.

Do you have a favorite mantra or quote that you live by? Want to hang your words of wisdom on display for all to see? Well, with this easy Decoupaged Quote Sign, you can make a piece of canvas art that says anything you’d like…and you don’t have to worry about painting on letters…which is a nightmare, I know.

I love making these wordy canvases and I’ve used a variety of papers to create the designs. While I love the idea of using wrapping paper for this, be careful…wrapping paper is VERY thin and it’s crazy hard to get out all the air bubbles from wrapping paper without ripping it. I suggest using a thicker craft paper, like scrapbooking paper or even card stock, to get a nice flat surface for this project. Granted, you can still use wrapping paper (I have a couple times!), but just be extra careful when lying down your paper to make sure your project is bubble free. For this project, I actually used three layers of tissue paper.

Alright, let’s get started!

Materials:

16 in. x 20 in. Canvas

Mod Podge

Foam Brush

Patterned Paper (the thicker the better…thinner paper might result in more bubbles and wrinkles)

Large Alphabet Stickers

Stencil Foam Brush

Paint (in whatever color you’d like)

Tweezers

Instructions:

Using your dry foam brush or a dry painting brush, lightly brush the canvas to rid it of any dust or dirt, as you don’t want any of that poking through the paper once it’s glued down.

Before starting, I suggest cutting your paper to fit your canvas. You can cut it afterwards, using an EXACTO knife to go around the edges, but I just find it easier to cut it first and glue the edges down as I go. I leave at least a good 1 in. to 1½ overhang of paper so I can wrap the paper around the sides and behind the canvas.

Once your paper is cut, use the foam brush to add a light coat of Mod Podge to your canvas. Place the paper on the canvas. Once it’s aligned, turn the canvas over and press on the back of it to help the canvas really adhere to the paper. Let this glue dry slightly, about 5 minutes. Continue adding paper if you’re layering like I am here.

Using the foam brush, glue down the edges of the canvas to the back of the canvas.

Finally, add a top coat of Mod Podge on your canvas, making sure your brush strokes all go the same way and no extra glue pockets are exposed.

Once your canvas is COMPLETELY dry, you can add your stickers! Since there’s a nice coating of Mod Podge on your paper, the stickers won’t adhere strongly to the surface, so don’t worry about not being able to remove them. Just place your stickers however you want them on your canvas.

For the paint, I suggest using a scrap piece of your paper to make sure the paint actually looks good with the pattern. Some paints will let the pattern bleed through, while others look a lot different on paper than they do in the bottle…so just check before you commit!

Once you’re ready to paint, place a small amount of paint on a palette or piece of aluminum foil and, using a flat stencil foam brush, start adding paint to your canvas. This is EXTREMELY important when it comes to painting like this…you want to move the brush up and down, NOT side to side. Lightly dab around the letters and use as little paint as you can…no need to load up the brush—a little will go a long way here. Just continue dabbing on paint until your canvas is covered. Then let it dry.

Once the paint has dried, you can start removing the letters. I use a tweezers to help me with this.

And there ya go! To seal in the paint, I usually add one more coat of Mod Podge, just to be safe.

And there you have it…your own lovely and festive canvas!

Celebrate creativity every Wednesday with a “Creativi-bee” post, where I share easy craft tutorials, project ideas, and craft collections.